Recording Cover Band Live Gig

Chili

Chili

Site Moderator
I haven't really been doing much recording lately and haven't posted anything here in quite a while. My attention has been absorbed with two gigging bands and putting on shows. But the opportunity came up where we needed to record a gig for my 'Dad band" for a promo video. The gig is done and I need to mix the songs then send them off to the videographer.

Please note, this is my first real attempt at recording a whole complete band, let alone a live performance. Also note, I'm playing and didn't get to hit the record button in time. lmao :facepalm:

Let me know what you think. This is new territory for me.

Thnx
 

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  • ShotTheSheriff.mp3
    10.2 MB · Views: 33
I think it's really good, with one exception. The hihats and cymbals are really over the top in a wide-ish (1 octave) range centered on 5.3kHz. There's a second, narrower (1/3 octave) harsh zone centered on 1.1kHz. Reggae often has bright hihats, but I'd cut at the above frequencies and perhaps add a bit above that for some air. You might even use a de-esser to keep the brightness but prevent it from getting obnoxious on the harder hits.
 
Thanks BSG. I appreciate your comments. Easy enough to dial back the cymbals in that region. They were captured as bleed from the snare and tom mics, so more of a global drum kit tweak, but doable.

And ummm, those are some pretty good ears for noticing something as subtle as that. Cool.
 
Chili said:
Thanks BSG. I appreciate your comments. Easy enough to dial back the cymbals in that region. They were captured as bleed from the snare and tom mics, so more of a global drum kit tweak, but doable.

And ummm, those are some pretty good ears for noticing something as subtle as that. Cool.
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That will make it a little more tricky to do.

Thanks for the compliment. The truth is, being able to put it in my DAW and try some eq is what makes it so specific. I could get sort of close just by ear, but not that precise. That's why it's such a good idea to post a downloadable mp3 rather than a link to a streaming service.
 
Yeah, the kit in general seems bright...almost like a really good V-kit. Also, this may be a dumb comment, but while I can hear the very articulate bass very well, the mix seems to be missing some ass. Maybe. I always want more thump in live mixes.

But seriously, nice grab.
 
We frequently hang a MacBook off our Midas M32 and record whatever has sources on the go. The quality is always quite high but the spill is always our killer for messing up the recordings and stopping us doing that much with them. Oddly, we usually get pretty decent drum sounds recorded, but the guitarist's amp spills everywhere. My bass always did it and recently I have gone totally silent - as in for a couple of gigs the volume went down, then the 8 x 10" went to 4 x 10" then 2 x 10" and then just DI, and as we're all IEM, the band didn't notice and our sound guy is eternally happy with me. Not having me thudding away cleaned the tracks up no-end, and I think that if I could get the guitarist to to what I've done - it would be an excellent capture - but I know I won't convince him.
 
Decent PA systems make pointing the guitar amp anywhere other than right into the guitarists face pretty much obsolete.
 
Thanks for the discussion. Welcome back Chris, will be checking out your song soon.

This was an outdoor gig and only the vocals and acoustic guitar went out to the audience through the PA. Patio gig at a great cajun restaurant. Everything was mic'd and recorded, though. The bass (me) was DI off the amp. Believe me, the bass was thundering on stage. (Love it). There was some bleed from the guitar amps into the drum mics, but honestly, not too bad.

The mix sounds really nice on my speakers, so I'm thinking it's a translation problem. Our guitar player complained that it caused his speakers to "bottom out" because the bass was too strong. So, translation. I'll look into it. Got about 3.5 hrs of songs to mix.

The bright drums are probably just me not hearing so good anymore. :(
 
A guitar amp tends to project a narrow beam of sound, at least at higher frequencies. Whoever is in the crosshairs of that beam will get the full HF, but off axis it will be less clear, except what reflects off walls etc. If you don't tilt the amp toward your head you'll tend to run it a bit bright. On a raised stage that means a beam of overly bright tone blasts one portion of the audience. If the mix position (for those not mixing themselves) is in the beam the sound person will tend to take the guitar out of the PA, which can leave the guitar underrepresented in other areas of the venue. This is mostly a problem outdoors or in indoor venues that are wider than they are deep.

Sometimes it can really be nice when the amp is in front of the player, tilted back like a monitor. That keeps it on the dead side of his vocal mic, and it means the PA can distribute the sound more evenly to the audience and on stage.

Of course, sometimes it's just simplest to keep as much as possible out of the PA. There's no one solution for every gig.
 
Chili said:
Thanks for the discussion. Welcome back Chris, will be checking out your song soon.

This was an outdoor gig and only the vocals and acoustic guitar went out to the audience through the PA. Patio gig at a great cajun restaurant. Everything was mic'd and recorded, though. The bass (me) was DI off the amp. Believe me, the bass was thundering on stage. (Love it). There was some bleed from the guitar amps into the drum mics, but honestly, not too bad.

The mix sounds really nice on my speakers, so I'm thinking it's a translation problem. Our guitar player complained that it caused his speakers to "bottom out" because the bass was too strong. So, translation. I'll look into it. Got about 3.5 hrs of songs to mix.

The bright drums are probably just me not hearing so good anymore. :(
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It may have low, lows. My monitors are KRK 8's, and I sit too close to them to pick up stuff below 50Hz. It just feels like there's a hole in the lower low mids, but again...I'm very likely older and more deaf than you.
 
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